March 2013

Henry Threadgill photographed by Drew Jarrett

Jazz organist, improviser and interlocutor Alexander Hawkins
takes us on a web journey through the work of Henry Threadgill and
his Zooid group.

All The Way,
Light Touch
A video of Henry Threadgill performing with
his group Zooid, a special commission by New York City venue,
Roulette. Zooid may be the single most exciting group working in
music today. You can really concentrate on the micro-detail, or sit
back and let it just happen. When I first heard the group, I was
intrigued, but I didn't love it. Later, I got it. I don't know how
– possibly by just stopping trying so hard –- and I loved it. It's
at once confrontational but at the same time completely friendly.
Some of the mysteries of the ensemble: how can a group float and
stomp at the same time? How on earth can they live inside a
composition for so long, and never seem to turn the page?

Henry Treadgill and
the Society Situation Dance Band
Can't go wrong with watching Pheeroan, Bob
Stewart, Abdul Wadud, Leroy Jenkins and the other members of the
Society Situation Dance Band. Threadgill never released a record
with this group, arguing that it wasn't a recording band, and that
to have recorded it would have been missing the point: it was
specific to the live context (hence, "Dance Band"). Fortunately for
those of us who never saw the group, we do have this high quality
three-part footage of a blazing show from Hamburg.

Steve Coleman’s
"Symmetrical Movement Concept"
I love Threadgill's music because of how it
sounds, but it's also fascinating from a technical point of view. I
think it's fair to say that Zooid has done nothing less than
pioneer a new way of making music. Theirs is a system based on
intervallic
relationships. Threadgill is not the only composer to use
intervallic logics as a basis for music making. Steve Coleman's
language is another where intervals are very important, and yet
with very different results. Coleman's own website is a fantastic
resource. His approach towards digital distribution was, and
remains, pioneering. He is also generous with his thoughts, and the
"Symmetrical Movement" essay – now regarded as a classic in certain
circles – is a fascinating introduction to his personal take on
intervals as they might be applied to jazz improvisation.
Intervallic thinking hasn't been restricted to improvised music (as
fans of Carter will attest). Per Nørgaard's
website is similar to Coleman's, insofar as it makes available
a wealth of writings about his musical processes. It says something
to the strength of the intervallic concept that it can support
three languages as distinctive and varied as those of Threadgill,
Carter, and Nørgaard.

Henry Threadgill interviewed by Ethan Iverson Threadgill gives a great interview to Ethan Iverson
here. Iverson's Do The Math blog is quite a resource, with
this extensive interview with Threadgill being a highlight for me.
Let's just say that Henry can really give it both barrels when
needs be. For example, his comments about mainstream jazz education
in part three of this interview.

My
interview on BBC Radio 3 about Threadgill and Zooid Something of a Primer, or at least a rudimentary
Invisible Jukebox on Threadgill. The occasion of the broadcast was
the Jazz on 3 broadcast of the Zooid show at the 2011
London Jazz Festival. It was simply one of the greatest live music
experiences I've had, and one that definitely still shapes how I
try to conceive the live sets of my own groups.

Tricentric
Foundation Threadgill was a product of the extraordinary
creative crucible which was Chicago and the AACM in the mid-to-late
1960s. One of the things which is most remarkable about the
musicians of the school and period (Wadada Leo Smith, Threadgill,
Roscoe Mitchell, Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre, Anthony Braxton,
etc.) is that they have such highly personal soundworlds, and yet
are still identifiable as representative of a certain approach
towards music making. It is very difficult to identify what
characterises this approach, but one aspect is a radical
open-mindedness towards influence. I've never met Threadgill but he
may well be unimpressed at me offering so many links focusing on
his music when there is so much fascinating stuff out there by
others. So my final link is a 'compare and contrast'. I spend a lot
of time reading and listening on the Tricentric Foundation website
– the homepage of a foundation dedicated to the music of a peer of
Threadgill, Anthony Braxton. But listen to how differently their
soundworlds have developed. For me, a Rosetta Stone to
understanding how their languages relate is the Muhal Richard
Abrams album 1-OQA+19, where both Threadgill and Braxton
appear at an early stage of their development. The Tri-Centric
Foundation site is a true goldmine, featuring everything from
potted explanations of some of Anthony's musical systems, to a
staggering trove of bootleg recordings collected together and made
available for free download. But don't overlook either the
spectacular output of the Braxton House catalogue proper. So many
of them are phenomenal.